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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. spring — of water
  4. pitch — completely
  5. rest — what's left
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wake — a trail
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. rest — a break
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cold — not warm
  22. rest — what's left
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. lash — a whip stroke

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com